The Mermaid Bride
by Meg Rider
Summary: Ariel surprises her friends with a trip to Atlantica. A love story about Aurora/Philip and Ariel/Eric, requested by TheCount. One-Shot.


_A/N: I've decided to work on a couple side project one-shots of different Disney characters and different genres. I will write these in my spare time in between posting chapters of my main stories. As always, I will take any requests: Just let me know what character, or characters (can be crossover), you would like the story to be about and what genre you would like the story to be._

_This is a love story about Aurora/Philip and Ariel/Eric (requested by TheCount)…_

Aurora sat on a rock, staring out at the sparkling ocean. She and Prince Philip were on the beach near Prince Eric's castle. Eric's wife, Ariel, said she had a surprise for everyone and they were to meet her on the beach.

"Do you have any idea what Ariel's surprise is?" Philip asked Eric.

"No," Eric replied.

"Hi, everyone!" Ariel greeted as she ran up to them.

Ariel's blue eyes were lit up with excitement. Sometimes Aurora had a hard time remembering the petite red-head was the same age as her. Aurora was a couple inches taller than Ariel and had a more of a mature look than Ariel did. Ariel actually looked their age, while Aurora looked like she was a few years older.

"What's the surprise?" Philip asked, anxiously.

Ariel smiled and pointed at the ocean. Just then King Triton, Ariel's father, rose up out of the water. He pulled himself up on shore, but left his fin in the water. Aurora's eyes grew wide. So, the rumors _were _true; Ariel really had been a mermaid. Ariel walked into the ocean, and her father lowered his trident onto the water. The water between Triton and Ariel began to glow. Aurora stared in disbelief as Ariel transformed into a mermaid. A green fin replaced her legs and she now had purple seashells across her chest.

"I don't understand," Eric said.

Ariel smiled. "Daddy has agreed to turn all of us into mer-people for the day so I can show all of you where I'm from. Just step into the water."

Eric didn't hesitate. He immediately walked into the water. Soon, his legs were replaced by a blue fin. Philip carefully went in after Eric. His legs were replaced by a red fin. Aurora got off the rock and walked over to the water.

"How do you feel?" Aurora asked Philip.

"I feel great! This is unbelievable!" Philip replied.

Ariel giggled and Eric began splashing around. Aurora bit her lip and slowly walked into the water. She watched as a bright light surrounded her. It felt like a warm mist was spraying over her. When the light faded, Aurora looked down. She had a pink fin and pink seashells. She laughed in spite of herself.

"Thank you, Daddy!" Ariel said.

Triton smiled at Ariel, then dove back into the water. Ariel turned towards her friends.

"Are you ready?" Ariel asked.

The friends lowered themselves under the water.

"I can breathe underwater!" Eric exclaimed, excitedly.

"This is incredible!" Aurora said.

Ariel giggled and started to swim away. Eric went after her. Philip took Aurora's hand and they swam after their friends. They went deeper and deeper under the water. Soon, it was pitch black and no one could see anything. Aurora tightened her grip around Philip's hand. The darkness didn't last long, however. Up ahead they could see a faint glowing. They swam through what looked like a seaweed barrier and stopped in front of a large rock. It stretched as far as they could see. There was a hole in the rock that looked like the entrance to a cave. The glowing was coming from inside the hole. Ariel smiled at her friends and swam through the hole. Aurora, Philip and Eric followed her. When they came out on the other side, they were all surprised to see a giant, glowing, gold castle in the distant.

"Welcome to my home," Ariel said.

"_That's _your home?" Aurora asked.

Ariel nodded. "You wanna go inside?"

"Yes!" Eric said.

Aurora and Philip agreed. Ariel led her friends into her castle. The inside looked like any other castle, just under water. Ariel brought them into her father's throne room. Triton was sitting on his throne, surrounded by six other mermaids.

"Guys, these are my sisters: Attina, Alana, Adella, Aquata, Arista and Andrina," Ariel said.

Aurora waved at them. _There's no way I'm going to remember their names, _she thought.

"Come on," Ariel said. "There's something I really want to show you."

Ariel eagerly led her friends to her cavern. Eric moved the rock and they all swam inside. Aurora's breath caught as she looked around. Ariel must have had every beautiful thing humans ever made.

"Oh, Ariel," Aurora said, running her fingers over a musical figurine of two people dancing. "This is amazing."

The men swam off to explore more of the cavern while Aurora stayed with Ariel and admired more of her collection. Aurora swam over to a painting Ariel had on display.

"This is _The Magdalen with the Smoking Flame _by Georges de La Tour," Aurora said, putting her hand over the flame of the candle. "Incredible!"

Ariel looked at the painting as if she was seeing it for the first time. "I never knew who painted it."

Aurora smiled at her friend. "Now you do."

Philip swam up behind Aurora and put his arms around her. "I know you. I walked with you once upon a dream," he said.

Aurora smiled at him. Philip twirled her and they started dancing. Eric and Ariel joined them. Ariel giggled as Eric picked her up and then dipped her. Suddenly there was a bright flash of light and they all looked up. Confused, Ariel swam towards where the light had come from. The others followed her. When they were a few hundred yards from the surface they realized someone on shore was shooting off fireworks. The reflection made the fireworks appear as if they were only inches above their heads. The embers floated down to them, lighting up the water like stars. Philip put his arm around Aurora. It was like they really were in a dream. Aurora felt like she was floating in the sky.

"Aurora, I have another surprise for you," Philip said.

"You do?"

Philip nodded. "This is where we're getting married."

Aurora looked at Ariel, confused, then back at Philip. "What do you mean?"

"It turns out Ariel's father can legally marry us," Philip said.

Aurora's heart started racing. "Really?"

"Yup," Ariel said. She took Aurora's hand. "Come with me!"

Aurora and Ariel swam back to the cavern. Ariel led Aurora to a large chest. She opened it to reveal her collection of jewelry.

"I know you can't wear an actual wedding gown, but you can help yourself to any of my jewelry," Ariel said.

Aurora hugged Ariel. "Thank you!"

Aurora slipped on some gold bangle bracelets, a gold necklace with a heart charm on it and gold hoop earrings. Ariel set a matching gold tiara on top of Aurora's head.

"You look beautiful!" Ariel said.

Aurora took Ariel's hand. "Ariel, will you be my maid of honor?"

Ariel giggled. "Of course!"

Ariel rummaged through the trunk and pulled out two rings. The girls then swam back up to where the men were waiting. King Triton had now joined them. Aurora took her place, with Ariel right beside her. Philip took Aurora's hands.

"Prince Philip," King Triton said, "do you take Princess Aurora as your wife and promise to love her for better or for worse, 'till death do you part?"

"I do."

"And do you, Princess Aurora, take Prince Philip as your husband and promise to love him for better or for worse, 'till death do you part?"

Aurora smiled. "I do!"

"Can I have the rings?" King Triton asked. Ariel handed him the rings. Philip slipped the ring onto Aurora's finger and she did the same for him.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," King Triton said. "You may kiss the bride."

Philip put his hand behind Aurora's neck and pulled her into a kiss. Aurora wrapped her arms around him and smiled as she kissed him back.


End file.
